Mark Duggan's mother wins right to judicial review

Tuesday 8 April 2014 13:37 BST

Mark Duggan's mother, Pam Duggan (right) and her son Marlon Duggan Mark Duggan's mother, Pam Duggan (right) and her son Marlon Duggan (left) outside the Royal Courts of Justice, London, after a jury found he was lawfully killed when he was shot dead by a police marksman. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday J

The mother of Mark Duggan today won the right to a judicial review of the jury’s verdict at her son’s inquest.

Pamela Duggan has accused the
coroner, Judge Keith Cutler, of misdirecting the jury which went on to return a
verdict of unlawful killing.

After three months of
evidence, eight of the 10 jurors said Duggan had no gun in his hand when he was
fatally shot.

But eight of those jurors
also ruled that Duggan was lawfully killed by the police.

Today Mr Justice Mitting
ruled that Mrs Duggan had an arguable case for a full hearing to be heard
in front of senior judges in the High Court.

Duggan had been shot dead by
police in a hard stop of the car he was travelling in in Ferry Lane, Tottenham.

His death sparked the
widespread riots and looting of August 2011.

In the inquest last year the
coroner asked the jury to consider whether Duggan was killed lawfully,
unlawfully or whether an open verdict should be returned.

The Duggan family's legal
team will argue that the coroner’s directions misled the jury over the crucial
evidence of V53, the officer who fired the fatal shots.

He had told the inquest that
he had clearly seen a gun in Duggan's hand.

However, in the documents
lodged in the High Court, the Duggan lawyers argue "V53 could not have
known what the gun looked like. V53 must have been making these details up
after the event, having later seen the gun".

They argue that V53's belief
that Duggan was holding a gun was mistaken. "V53 had a clear, unobstructed
and prolonged view of what Mark was holding. There was no evidence V53 had any
good reason to think Mark was holding a gun."

Duggan's aunt, Carole Duggan,
has claimed that she believed her nephew had been "executed" by the
police.

Following the inquest verdict
Met police chief Mark Rowley said that the jury had found that Duggan had had a
gun and that V53 had an honest and reasonable belief that Mark Duggan still had
that gun when he was shot.